Rescue crews on Saturday recovered the body of a young man who drowned in Loch Raven Reservoir on Friday night.
Anthony Ibewuike, 23, of Havre de Grace was attempting to swim across the reservoir with others early Friday evening when he went under, police said.
Dive teams, boats and a county police helicopter began searching Friday for the swimmer, who went missing shortly before 6:30 p.m., said Elise Armacost, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore County Fire Department.
The search ended shortly after 8 p.m. Friday because of darkness and poor weather conditions, she said. It resumed at 6 a.m. Saturday, with Baltimore City Watershed Police Force leading the effort with assistance from the county police dive team. Ibewuike's body was recovered about noon.
Crews were first dispatched at 6:34 p.m. Friday to an area near Loch Raven Drive and Providence Road, where they had to use all-terrain vehicles to access the spot where the drowning occurred, Armacost said.
Ibewuike and an unknown number of other swimmers were attempting to cross a bend in the reservoir to the north shore when he went under. The water depth in that area, between the Loch Raven Drive bridge and the dam, is about 90 feet, she said.
Swimming is not permitted in the county's three city-owned reservoirs: Prettyboy, Loch Raven and Liberty. But posted warning signs are not always enough to deter swimmers tempted by placid-looking reservoir waters. Four swimmers drowned in a single week in July 2006 while illegally swimming at Loch Raven and Prettyboy reservoirs and Patapsco Valley State Park.
The calm reservoir surface can be deceiving, experts warn. Reservoir waters are full of hidden rocks, fallen trees and unstable ledges. Depths fluctuate suddenly, underwater visibility is poor and currents can be treacherous.
Just a foot or two from shore, unwary waders can find the bottom dropping off into a reservoir as deep as a 12-story building. Or swimmers might dip into a stretch of river below a dam, only to be grabbed by the swirling currents underneath.